AUSTRALIA signed up to the Green Shipping Challenge at the COP27 conference.

US President Joe Biden invited Australia to join the challenge at the Major Economies Forum in June.

Australian minister for international development and the Pacific Pat Conroy attended the launch, which was hosted by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and US special presidential envoy for climate change John Kerry.

The Green Shipping Challenge encourages countries, ports and shipping companies to announce actions at COP27 to align the industry with the 2015 Paris Agreement goal to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Minister for climate change and energy Chris Bowen said Australia was working with other nations to clean up the seas.

“Emissions from the shipping sector are on an upward trajectory which is at odds with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” he said.

“One of the actions Australia is taking is to sign a Green Economy Agreement with Singapore that includes measures to implement green shipping corridors using technology to decarbonise the sector. Areas of collaboration with Singapore could include emissions-reduction operations at sea and at ports, assessing routes, alternative fuel use and bunkering, and infrastructure requirements.”

Minister for infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government Catherine King said the challenge was a breakthrough for global transport.

“We are committed to harnessing new, greener technologies, including the use of alternative fuels and energy sources in shipping, to make a significant contribution towards addressing climate change,” Ms King said.

“Australia is already proactively supporting this by influencing and implementing International Maritime Organization environment regulation and investing in alternative fuels as well as partnering with other countries to establish a number of low and zero carbon shipping routes by 2035.”

The move follows Australia’s membership of the Zero Emission Shipping Mission under Mission Innovation in September and the Clydebank Declaration established by 20 countries at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.

Clean Energy Marine Hub Initiative

Meanwhile, another green initiative for the maritime industry is gaining traction at the conference. Panama, Uruguay, and Norway have joined several others in endorsing the Clean Energy Marine Hub Initiative.

The initiative, which is co-led by a group of CEOs, is a cross-sectoral public-private initiative aiming to accelerate the production, export and import of low-carbon fuels across the world.

The three governments join the UAE and Canada, who were the first to join the CEM-Hubs initiative when it was announced at the Clean Energy Ministerial, in Pittsburgh, earlier this year.

The initiative will engage with all members to facilitate information and knowledge exchange on policies, programs, and decarbonisation projects. This is intended to catalyse investments in the marine infrastructure needed to transport zero and low emission fuels from producer to consumer.

CEM-Hubs is co-ordinated with the support of the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Association of Ports and Harbours, and the Clean Energy Ministerial.

Supporters say the initiative has the potential to de-risk investment and accelerate the commercial deployment and transport of alternative fuels, which are currently two to three times more expensive than fossil fuels.

The announcement came as part of the Green Shipping Challenge launch event at the world leader’s summit of COP27.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian government said the scale of the challenge that is global decarbonisation is enormous, and the maritime sector needs to speed up the use of green fuels and technologies.

“By seizing the chance to work with ports, shipowners, energy providers – and in fact the whole maritime value chain – we and other governments at COP are sending a clear signal to others that there are opportunities for action rather than words on offer today,” the spokesperson said.

Speaking in Sharm El-Sheikh after the announcement ICS chairman Emanuele Grimaldi said: “A year on from COP26, a great deal is still being talked about the production of hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels, but very little on how this will actually be done. That’s why this initiative is so crucial, because it brings together the whole energy value chain to ensure that producing, transporting, and using net zero-emission fuels becomes a reality”.

Mr Grimaldi said decarbonising shipping and decarbonising the world are two sides of the same coin.

“Our ‘Shaping the future of shipping’ conference in Glasgow demonstrated that all stakeholders across the world’s energy landscape need to work together to decarbonise, and I’m delighted to see that reflected by this announcement in Egypt today,” he said.

Panama national energy secretary Dr Jorge Rivera Staff said: “CEM-Hubs will become a real and tangible energy transition accelerator in the maritime sector and its clusters, while preparing the path for a green commercial supply chain with hubs prepared for a more sustainable future. The future is not expected, it is built; let’s build it together.”